TO: Kentucky State University Faculty and Staff

FROM: M. Christopher Brown II, Ph.D., Eighteenth President

DATE: May 7, 2020

SUBJECT: Realigning the Campus Workforce and Operations

The novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic has disrupted all notions of normalcy across the higher education landscape. The rapid transition from traditional residential liberal arts, scientific, and professional instruction to a largely asynchronous, virtual bundle of content delivered via distance was unimaginable prior to March 2020. The result has been the shuttering of campus buildings nationwide and a quest to redefine essential work functions amid a public health crisis.

Kentucky State University has equally been impacted by the shifting terrain for the delivery of both collegiate instruction and the collegiate experience. As we work to fully reopen campus operations, we face a mountain of new considerations and expenses (e.g., stockpiling personal protective equipment, creating new protocols for campus visitors, modifying facilities to comply with CDC-based safety recommendations). In addition to the litany of new and unbudgeted expenditures related to COVID-19, there are concerns about the Commonwealth's financial ability to maintain appropriations and the uncertainty of prospective students to maintain their original plans of pursuing a degree in the current social climate.

All of the above issues and more are discussed in “Thorobred Strong: Adjusting to New Realities, Advancing Our Historic Mission”. Please read the current volume of the Thorobred Strong series. It makes the case for why Kentucky State University must implement a series of time-sensitive steps to address our immediate budgetary concerns and fiscal future. Despite the looming ambiguity and existential threats, the deliberate attention given these issues by campus management and the Board of Regents should provide calm and optimism for all campus constituents and stakeholders.

The late Yale professor, Halford E. Luccock is recorded as often saying, "No one can whistle a symphony. It takes a whole orchestra to play it". This is also true of effective and sustainable campus-wide decision making. There are no bad ideas. The quality of our workforce realignment depends upon each of us to offer input, suggestions, and information. Please use the attached form to suggest potential efficiencies that allow Kentucky State University to reduce expenditures while effectively delivering our mission.

Ideal recommendations should permit the campus to meet the demands of a post-COVID-19 work environment while constricting operational costs. Our aim is for academic recommendations to align to the Board of Regents approved Green Ribbon Commission Report(s) and for administrative recommendations to consider the potential deployment of a telecommuting work model for the short-term and a hybrid work model for the long-term. An overall reduction in the costs required to provide essential services is the desired outcome of this process.